It is desirable in many instances to splice optical fibers. For example, a relatively short length of optical fiber upon which a ferrule has been previously mounted may be spliced to a longer length of optical fiber in the field in order to facilitate connectorization of the resulting spliced optical fiber. Thus, the ferrule can be mounted upon a relatively short length of optical fiber, termed a pigtail, at the factory in order to simplify the connectorization of the resulting spliced optical fiber in the field.
In order to properly splice the optical fiber, as well as to protect the resulting splice, a number of splice housings and associated connectors have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,613 which issued Aug. 31, 1993 to Ming-Jun Li et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,867 which issued Aug. 20, 1991 to Michael de Jong et al. describe connectors which house a splice. As illustrated by these patents, conventional splice housings include a splice body that receives, through one end, the end portion of the pigtail opposite the end portion upon which the ferrule is mounted, and that receives, through the other end, the end portion of the longer optical fiber which is to be connectorized. The splice body generally aligns the respective end portions of the optical fibers such that the optical fibers are optically interconnected. In addition, the respective end portions of the optical fibers can be fixed in position within the splice body, such as by a cam or other mechanical actuation means.
While these conventional splice housings and associated connectors optically interconnect the respective end portions of the optical fibers in an effective manner, conventional splice housings are designed such that the rear portion of the ferrule abuts and is immediately adjacent to the splice body. See, for example, the Li '613 patent, and the de Jong '867 patent. In addition, conventional splice housings and the related connectors generally include a housing or sleeve that snugly receives both the splice body and the ferrule such that the resulting assembly, including the splice body and the ferrule, moves as a unitary body. That is, conventional splice housings do not permit the ferrule to move relative to the splice body.
In certain instances, forces must be applied to the splice housing in an off-axis direction. For example, the connector as well as the optical fiber to which the connector is mounted may be pulled along a route that includes a number of turns or corners, thereby imparting a significant off-axis force to the connector. Since the ferrule and the splice body are generally arranged in an abutting relationship and are typically housed within a common sleeve or housing so as to move as a unitary body, the resulting splice housing is relatively long. As such, the off-axis forces applied to the ferrule create a relatively large moment that is coupled to the ferrule and the splice body, thereby structurally damaging or degrading the connector in some instances.